Okay...Surely you're all wondering why, exactly, I have been AWOL with this whole bloggity-blog thing for the past month. Well, maybe only one of you have been. (Bec, that's you.)
Well, I have been riding a roller coaster of appointments and treatment changes and honestly, trying to educate myself before coming back to you all.
As of, eh...early February, I have been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, which is a chronic, wide-spread pain syndrome that is quite fascinating. Apparently, if you think of a person's pain and external stimuli as a car radio set on a reasonable level with, oh, small children in your car...a person with Fibromyalgia experiences that same stimuli (internal or external) as a stereo cranked up so high that you'd hear it a mile a away from the inside of your own vehicle.
When the Neurologist and Rheumatologists were pushing on parts of my body that nearly knocked me off the table in pain, I now know why. Those are called "Tender Points;" there are 18 possible ones in a fibromyalgia patient's body.
Fibromyalgia is known to cause fatigue, random pain, depression, soreness, stiff joints, sleep issues, and a myriad of other symptoms. However, there is no specific diagnostic test that a person can have that points directly to it. A lot of people (read: medical providers and average Joes) consider it a "junk drawer" diagnosis.
A part of me has been celebrating that we now know:
1) where the pain is coming from- why I practically live on ibuprofen and a heating pad every night
2) why I'm exhausted easily after minimal exercise or daily routines
3) where thyroid issues and adrenal gland issues and other of my random problems throughout the years have been connected
But yet, there's a huge part of me that is grieving. There's a stigma that fibromyalgia is not a "real" diagnosis. (To which I say, do your research...I have been and it's legit.) I'm tired. All the time. I call it "Mack-truck-itis." I'm sore. I'm dealing with three weeks of going back and forth with the insurance company about why I shouldn't have to drive to Bethesda for physical therapy from Kingstowne.
All that just to say, if I haven't shared with you lately that you're important to me, you are. I'm running on fumes and I wanted to let you all in on why. I think I have found the new direction for my blog...Not necessarily complaining to all of you about my struggles, but educating people and sharing the facts about this syndrome that everyone's heard about from the big-pharma commericals but no one really knows about.
I'd love to share this journey with you, as I humbly work with my mind and body (and copious amounts of caffeine) to learn, share and educate.
